ON THE ROLE OF THE WIZARD:
"I got the phone call and you know, things that happen in your life, because at the same time I wanted privacy, but I became really intrigued and really fascinated by the part. And for me, one of the problems with filmmaking is that we're all rather dull, and then I thought about it, I needed finances and unfortunately there's a long time between jobs."
WHY HE WAS HESITANT:"I didn't want to open up another can of worms for me which was that, you know which was that there were certain things on that film which I would have loved to have spent more time exploring and couldn't, and didn't have the time or the correct. Working with Warner Brothers is not like working with a theatre director, the studio can't be on stage. One of the great things about filmmaking, is that you can do it again and again and again all day, but it does lose a certain amount of performance."
STAGE VS. FILM:"What is called 'life,' perfection, you wouldn't dream of putting that into a film, because they'd cut that out of the negative. A great performance on the stage or in a live music performance, you'd accept the fact that there might be a fluffed note or a fluffed line. You're not looking at reality, you're looking at a parallel art form...Audiences are much more familiar with hand-held movies, most of them now own something hand-held. I think we should get onto digital as quickly as possible, and say that the superior technology is there."
WHAT ABOUT FANS EDITING FILM ON THE INTERNET?"It should be punishable by death. No really, I don't really care. Certainly if I'd made something, I've made it, and I believe it's something of an homage. I think that the kiddies can't make their own movies. So, people do their own mix, I don't really care if they take a film of mine and re-edit the s--- out of them. It's so personal, the whole point about art, and about art and our individuality as human beings, is that we hope to make a unique something for people to enjoy."
WHAT KIND OF FILM DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO DO?Ten years ago I was looking for a film with lots of sex and incredibly high body-count of murders and dark, sort of ugly, something like that."
THIS QUOTE RATED R:Also known for his role in "Trojan Eddie" Harris has sworn off Viagra because he says, "It worked too well. I was taking this woman out for dinner afterward and couldnt zip up my trousers." Ah, the luck of the Irish.
AT HIS OWN PREMIERE:The actor criticized Madonna and other pampered stars, saying: "They'd go to the opening of an envelope," the 71 year old actor said. "Any big occasion, they're always there. Anything for exposure. We can do without them. What I hate about our business today is the elitism. So-called stars ride in private jets and have bodyguards and dietitians and beauticians. Tom Cruise is a midget and he has eight bodyguards all 6-foot-10, which makes him even more diminutive. It's an absolute joke. Actors are unimportant."
GRAND-DAUGHTER CONVINCES HIM TO TAKE THE ROLE:British actor Richard Harris, 71, says he turned down a part in this fall's "Harry Potter" movie three times before his granddaughter talked him into it. Caught outside a press conference smoking a cigarette, Harris is at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting the movie "My Kingdom" where he plays an updated King Lear. But, he's aware that it's going to be his role as Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy that's going to make him most popular with a new generation of fans. "I've never read the books, of course, but I have a lot of respect for (author) J.K. Rowlings, she has an amazing mind," Harris says. "All I knew is that they kept offering me the part and raising the salary every time they called. I kept turning it down." Although he was aware that the story about the boy wizard may be the biggest movie of the year, he says he turned down the role because he would be roped into all the sequels that may come up later. "Anyone involved has to agree to be in the sequels, all of them, and that's not how I wanted to spend the last years of my life, so I said no over and over again," Harris says. He spent time with Harry Potter, played by 12-year-old Daniel Radcliffe, and showed him card tricks and says, "I was amazed how much confidence he has, he turned to me at one point after a reading and said, 'I think this is going to work out fine' and I was dumbfounded." Harris was also amazed that his character name Albus Dumbledore is the scientific name for the Dorset Bumblebee, and when he finally agreed to do it, he only worked a few days here and there -- maybe three weeks total -- spread out over a few months. "It was my granddaughter Ella, who's 11 years old, and whom I worship with all my life," Harris smiles. "And she said 'Papa I hear you're not going to be the Harry Potter movie' and she said, 'If you don't play Dumbledore then I will never speak to you again."
And so, he did.
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